Goldman’s O’Neil in Race to Replace BoE Chief: Report

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The Bank of England battled against a panel of politicians today over its role in the alleged currency market manipulation scandal. It also revealed some rather embarrassing details over its dismissed currency chief Martin Mallett.

LONDON: Sterling fell to a three-month low against the dollar on Friday, hit by a raft of soft data out of the UK this week that has made investors more doubtful that the Bank of England will raise interest rates soon. It also lost ground against the lower-yielding euro, which was supported by an unwinding of carry trades, as global stocks traded in the red. The euro tends to do well during a risk-off environment as investors unwind risky carry trades, in which they sell a lower-yielding currency to buy a higher-yielding one or riskier asset.

The refinery and marketing (R&M) industry stocks have outperformed not just the S&P 500 Index but also the energy sector by a wide margin ever since the start of the year. This is shown in the graph below:

As oil price has reached record lows, several energy companies have seen their market capitalization erode. Energy stocks have tumbled as crude price experienced new multi-year lows. In such an uncertain environment, opportunities await the patient investors, looking for a bargain purchase. With upstream companies slashing their capital expenditure and with oil price expected to remain volatile, oil production companies do not seem to be a good bet. Instead, investors should focus on oil refining and midstream companies which exhibit less sensitivity to low oil price.

LONDON: Sterling hovered near two-month highs against the dollar on Monday, buoyed by an election that produced a Conservative majority, with the focus turning to economic data and when the Bank of England might hint when it will lift interest rates. BoE's monetary policy committee kept rates steady as expected on Monday at the record low of 0.5 per cent. It issued no statement but Governor Mark Carney is due to give a quarterly update on forecasts for growth and inflation on Wednesday.

In a research report released on December 22, Goldman Sachs Group Inc (NYSE:GS) analyst, Neil Mehta, discussed some energy companies that can be included in an investor’s portfolio on a risk-reward basis. The energy sector has recently, of course, been troubled by the significant decline in crude oil prices.

TORONTO — Former Windsor-West MPP Sandra Pupatello emerged as the front-runner in the race to replace Dalton McGuinty as Ontario premier and Liberal leader after a weekend of delegate selection votes across the province.
Pupatello, who quit politics in 2011, captured 504 committed first-ballot delegates (27.44%) to the leadership convention in Toronto Jan. 25-27, according to official results released at two a.m. Monday.